4. New rule: Look out AND look in.
Old rule: Look in: Be lean and mean.
The Take Away
Should you be externally focused or internally focused? To mirror the grace and harmony of nature, you need to place attention on both perspectives.
In the best companies, the task and responsibility of maintaining the simultaneous balance of the inside and the outside faces of the company is coordinated by the CEO (external facing) and the COO (internal facing). The persons occupying these roles work together to achieve a “yin-yang” (or “in –yo” in Japanese) type of balance.
The Inner World
The purpose of achieving Six Sigma levels of efficiency is to increase your ROIC – using money as efficiently as possible to run the business. The ultimate goal is not Six Sigma in and of itself – the ultimate goal is maximum ROIC. Whether this means reducing waste, errors, improving turn-around times, etc – the point is to increase ROIC. On the inside of the business you want to both be time and money efficient while providing maximum support for the current ongoing operations in the organization and any growth initiatives that may be taking place. A tricky balancing act!
The Outside World
The only way to continually and profitably grow your business over the long haul is to constantly innovate and make sales. Sounds simple enough.
The CEO or owner, over time, must constantly be looking for new ways to serve his/her customers, effectively market the value add she’s offering, forge new mutually beneficial relationships and guide the company through its many stages of success.
If you’re not paying attention to the new and changing needs of your customers, I promise you, someone else is. Change means new opportunities for you, and if you accept and “ride” change, it can carry you to huge levels of profit.
Bring it all together – Yin & Yang
The inside of the company must be run in such a way that allows for the maximum levels of efficiency AND provide a solid foundation from which change, experimentation and growth can take place.
The outside of the company must always be looking to the future and welcoming change. It needs to be serving customers and finding ways to better serve them still. This allows the company to serve its purpose (other than making money), add value to the world and provide the cash it needs to support and maintain stability and new growth for the inside of the company.
For success, you need both a strong internal focus and a strong external focus. If you balance both these polarities, you’ll be in good shape to serve your customers and create huge profits for your organization.
Copyright 2006 Christopher A. Gayle & Capital Genesis LLC ©. All Rights Reserved.
